Mauricio Kagel 2018 – Performance and Interpretation

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Mauricio Kagel’s death, the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and the Kunststiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen are hosting a conference on the performance and interpretation of the work of Kagel and related composers.

Following his death, Kagel’s work is in danger of disappearing from concert and opera programmes, radio playlists and record company catalogues. In order to draw the attention of a wider public to his work, we would like to focus in particular on his experimental work from the 1960s and ’70s, which is often resistant to the exigencies of the music business. In many cases, the circumstances of the original performances have to be researched, instruments and other resources have to be built and performance and playing techniques learned by the participants.

The aim of the conference is to exchange strategies and experiment with different approaches for reviving the work. We envisage papers (around 30min), lecture recitals, round tables and performances. An ensemble made up of students of the Musikhochschule will be on hand to put some of the ideas into practice. The conference languages are English and German.

The conference will be accompanied by an exhibition on Kagel’s work and will be held directly after the Acht Brücken Festival 2018. Some of the results will be presented publicly in October.

The conference organisers are Björn Heile (University of Glasgow) and Thomas Oesterdiekhoff (on behalf of Kunststiftung NRW). For further info see the conference website https://kagelblog.wordpress.com/; to propose a contribution contact the organisers at mauriciokagel2018@gmail.com. The deadline is 12 January 2018.